A Little Problem
by pingo1387
Summary: Something strange happens to Chopper after an experiment by the Navy. What can the crew do to get their doctor back to normal? Cover by MandyPandaa.
1. Kidnapped! Usopp's Rescue Mission!

**Takes place between Skypiea and the Davy Back Fight**

* * *

Nami thanked the villager who had helped them and turned back to the crew. "You heard him," she said. "This island's only got an hour of Log, so if you wanna do something here, do it quick! Also—" she pointed to Luffy, Zoro, and Robin. "Since there's a small Navy base here, you three be careful."

"Aye-aye, sir!" Sanji exclaimed. He left the ship, declaring that he would go out for cooking supplies.

"I'll stay here," Zoro muttered. He leaned against the railing and promptly fell asleep.

"Adventure!" Luffy yelled, ignoring Nami and jumping off of the ship with Usopp and Chopper.

"Didn't you listen to me!?" Nami yelled.

"I'll stay here," Robin said calmly.

"Okay," Nami said, relieved. "I think I'll stay here too . . . I hope that idiot doesn't get in trouble."

* * *

"Hello?" Chopper called nervously. "Luffy? Usopp?"

He had gotten separated from the two at some point and found himself on the edge of the woods.

"They'll be fine," he said to himself. Yawning, he decided to take a nap and so leaned against a tree, closing his eyes.

Not long after that, two Marines came along the edge of the woods.

"They said anything will do, right?" said one.

"Yeah . . ." said the other. Pointing to Chopper, he said "How about that raccoon dog?"

"It's wearing a hat and pants," the first one said. "It probably belongs to someone."

"No one's here," the second one countered. He knelt and picked up Chopper; the little reindeer didn't wake. "C'mon, let's take it back and see if they can get good results."

* * *

"Oh, this is good!" said the doctor as he was handed the sleeping Chopper. "Good work, you two!"

The two Marines saluted and left. The doctor brought Chopper over to a table and laid him down.

"What do you think?" he said to the other doctor in the room.

"I think it will work fine," said the second doctor.

At this point, Chopper sleepily opened his eyes. He looked around, alarmed; he saw the doctors standing above him and started screaming.

"It's awake!" yelled the second doctor. The first doctor seized Chopper, preventing the little reindeer from moving. Chopper was too scared to change size.

The next thing he knew, there was a prick in his arm; he involuntarily relaxed and his eyes drooped.

"Sedative," he heard one of the doctors say as he fell unconscious.

* * *

"Luffy!" Usopp yelled, charging back to his friend.

"What?" Luffy asked, alarmed.

"Bad news!"

"What is it!?"

"Let's go back to the ship first! We need to tell everyone!"

"Tell them what!?"

Usopp was already running to the ship. Luffy shrugged and followed him.

Along the way, they spotted Sanji coming out of a store with several bags on one arm.

"Oh, you two," he said. "What's wrong?"

"Getbacktotheshipnowbigtrouble!" Usopp yelled as he ran past Sanji.

"Idunnowhat'shappeningbutit'sprobablybad!" Luffy yelled as he ran past Sanji.

Sanji scratched his head, shrugged, and ran after the two.

* * *

"What is going on?" Nami demanded as the three leapt onto deck, panting. Robin and Zoro looked up, interested.

"Yeah, you two," Sanji said. "What's going on?"

Luffy looked at Usopp. "Usopp, what's the bad news?"

"Where's Chopper?" Zoro asked, noting the little reindeer's absence.

"That's the bad news!" Usopp exclaimed. "I saw Chopper getting kidnapped! He's in the Navy base!"

"What!?" Luffy yelled. "That's bad!"

"Why the hell didn't you stop them!?" Sanji yelled.

"By the time I saw them, they were already going inside!"

"Well, that's no problem," Zoro said, placing a hand on his swords. "I'll bust in there and take him back."

"No!" Nami yelled. "Listen, obviously we're going to get him back, but Luffy, Zoro, and Robin can't go! Those three have bounties!"

"So?" Sanji demanded.

"So we need someone who can steal a uniform without being recognized," Nami explained patiently. "This means that it's me, you, or Usopp."

"This is no job for a lady!" Sanji exclaimed. "Usopp, let's do rock-paper-scissors."

Usopp whimpered. "B-Best two out of three goes."

Even though he tried very hard to lose, Usopp ended up winning two games.

"Dammit!" he exclaimed.

"Good luck," Sanji said, slapping him on the back. "Make us proud!"

Usopp mumbled something and jumped off the ship, running for the base.

* * *

"Why isn't it working?" demanded one of the doctors impatiently.

"I only injected him ten minutes ago," the second doctor said. "This new formula is supposed to be permanent, but it takes a while to completely set in."

"And in the meantime . . . ?"

"We wait."

A soldier peeked into the area. "Excuse me," he said brusquely, "I've just been told to inform you that the project has been cancelled by the commodore."

"What?" demanded the first doctor.

"But we already injected this raccoon dog with the formula!" exclaimed the second doctor, gesturing to the unconscious Chopper.

"That's not my problem!" said the soldier snappishly. "If you'll excuse me, I have duties elsewhere."

He marched off.

"Now what?" said the first doctor, staring at Chopper.

"I suppose we could run other tests on it," suggested the second. "I'll get the acid."

Another soldier came around the corner into the area. "Excuse m-me, doctors!" he exclaimed.

"We know the project was cancelled," interrupted one of the doctors.

"R-Right," said the Marine, trembling slightly. "Well, I've been ordered to take the reindeer elsewhere. If I may?"

Without waiting for an answer, he approached the table and scooped up Chopper, after which he strode out of the room, breaking into a run once he was out of sight.

If Chopper had been conscious, he would have noticed that the Marine had had an unusually long nose.

* * *

Finally back at the ship, still wearing the Marine uniform, Usopp brought Chopper into the kitchen and laid him on the couch. A minute later, Chopper's eyes fluttered and slowly opened. He looked around, confused, and saw the crew standing over him.

"What's going on?" he said sleepily. "Usopp, why are you a Marine?"

Usopp laughed. "This is just a disguise! I'll never be a real Marine, Chopper! Anyway, are you okay?"

Chopper shook his head. "Um . . . oh, right! I got kidnapped!" he said with alarm. "And they put me on a table and knocked me out . . ."

"Calm down," Nami said gently.

Chopper looked up at them with tears in his eyes. "T-Thanks for saving me," he said, crying.

"It was nothing!" Usopp exclaimed. "Only I, Usopp-_sama_, was brave enough to volunteer for the task!"

"Really?" Chopper asked.

"More importantly," Robin said, "I wonder if they did anything to doctor-_san_ while he was unconscious?"

The others fell silent.

"I don't feel any different," Chopper said nervously.

"We can worry about that later," Nami interrupted.

"Yeah!" Luffy said. "Even if something happens, Chopper, you can fix it!"

Chopper nodded.

"Get some sleep," Sanji said, patting the little reindeer's head. "Come outside when you're rested up."

Chopper nodded again and lay down, closing his eyes. He was asleep within seconds.

"That's so cute," Nami said quietly.

"Yeah, whatever," Zoro said, stretching. "I think I'll take a nap too."

The crew, minus Chopper, left the kitchen.

* * *

The crew had set sail over an hour ago. Usopp had tossed the Marine uniform carelessly onto the island as they left. He had just gone into the kitchen to check on Chopper, who had not come out yet.

"Bad news! Bad news!"

Everyone looked at Usopp, who was running from the kitchen.

"What now?" Nami said. "Giant flying monkeys are attacking?"

"An army of snakes has invaded?" Zoro suggested.

"Is it those moles again?" Luffy asked eagerly. "I like that story!"

"No, I'm serious!" Usopp yelled. "It's actually really bad news!"

"Spit it out," Sanji said.

Usopp took a deep breath. "Chopper's disappeared!"


	2. Chopper's Gone? How to Fix the Problem?

"See!?" Usopp cried, pointing to the empty couch. "He's gone!"

The crew had gathered in the kitchen to look for Chopper.

Zoro yanked back the blanket and looked underneath. "Well, he's not there," he said.

Nami hit him. "We figured that out _without_ lifting the blanket!"

"Do you have any better ideas!?" he demanded.

Robin closed her eyes and made an X with her arms. "I don't see Doctor-_san_ anywhere on the ship," she said after a minute. "Both the rowboats are here, so he couldn't have left."

"Wait, I've got it," Zoro said. "Two guys thought that Chopper was the missing prince of their kingdom, so they snuck onboard and stole him away. What do you think about that, Nami?"

Nami hit him.

"That's highly unlikely," Robin said. "To start with, we would have seen if anyone left or entered this room."

"So he's still in here?" Luffy asked confusedly.

"Maybe he turned invisible?" Usopp suggested.

Sanji rolled his eyes. "If that were the case, he'd still be on the couch, or he would've said something by now."

"Oh, good point," Usopp muttered.

"Search the room!" Luffy declared. "Chopper's gotta still be in here, so let's find him!"

* * *

Chopper had been sleeping soundly until a violent gust yanked him off the couch. He slammed into the wall—which thankfully didn't hurt too much—and slid to the floor, dazed. He shook his head to clear it and looked around.

"Do you have any better ideas!?"

At this loud voice, Chopper winced and covered his ears. That had been Zoro speaking, but why were his words so booming?

At a closer look, Chopper realized that everything was much, _much_ larger than usual. The table in the kitchen, though far away, was like a mountain; the couch was massive; and his crewmates gathered around the couch towered above him. Robin had her arms crossed, and after a second Chopper heard her say loud and clear "I don't see Doctor-_san_ anywhere on the ship. Both the rowboats are here, so he couldn't have left."

_I shrunk!?_ Chopper thought to himself. He stood and said "Guys, I'm down here!"

No response. Chopper repeated the words in a yell, but no one seemed to hear him. He started running towards them, hoping to get their attention.

"Search the room!" Luffy declared as Chopper ran. "Chopper's gotta still be in here, so let's find him!"

The crew began moving around the room, searching in every place, however unlikely, for their missing doctor. Usopp moved in the tiny reindeer's direction and Chopper leapt out of the way, dodging Usopp's boots.

"Wait!" he exclaimed. He ran to Usopp, who had stopped to crouch by the rudder control. Chopper climbed up Usopp's shoe and started to shimmy up his pants leg.

Usopp stood and started to twitch.

"What're you doing?" Zoro asked, frowning.

"Eep! I-It's not my fault!" Usopp said, twitching. "I think a bug got in my pants!"

Luffy laughed.

Usopp started swatting at his leg, trying to squish what he thought was a bug. Thankfully, he missed Chopper, who frantically climbed faster and made it up to Usopp's midsection.

"N-Now it's on my stomach!" Usopp yelled, giggling. He swatted at his midsection while Chopper determinedly climbed up.

Soon Chopper poked his tiny head out of Usopp's overalls and pulled himself up the shoulder strap. He straightened himself up, stood, and shouted "USOPP!"

Usopp nearly fell over. "I heard him!"

The others looked at him.

"I heard Chopper!" Usopp exclaimed. "He said my name!"

"Usopp!" Chopper exclaimed. "I'm on your shoulder!"

Usopp frowned. "On my . . . shoulder?"

He looked to the side and held out his hand; Chopper scrambled into it and Usopp held the miniature reindeer up to eye level.

"What—the—hell!?" he yelled.

"Usopp!" Chopper exclaimed happily.

The others crowded around Usopp and Chopper.

Luffy laughed. "Hey, it's a bug that looks like Chopper!"

"I'm not a bug!" Chopper shouted. "I'm a reindeer!"

"Chopper!?" Nami cried. "What on earth _happened_ to you!?"

"I dunno!" Chopper yelled. "I was sleeping and next thing I knew I was thrown against a wall!"

"Thrown against a—hey, moss-head, that was _your_ fault!" Sanji yelled.

"How could I _possibly_ have known!?" Zoro yelled back.

Chopper winced and covered his ears.

"Perhaps we should lower our volume?" Robin suggested lightly. "I think that Doctor-_san_ is being affected by our shouting."

Zoro and Sanji quietly apologized to Chopper.

"Come to think of it . . ." Usopp said. "When I went in the base, the doctors said something about a project. You think they did this to you, Chopper?"

"Possibly," Chopper agreed, speaking only slightly above his normal tone. "They knocked me out, so maybe they did something when I was unconscious, like Robin said earlier."

"It's pretty cool that your clothes shrank too," Luffy said, laughing.

"Yeah, that is weird," Chopper agreed, feeling his hat and looking at his shorts. "Anyway, if I can examine a blood sample from myself—"

He paused.

"I'm too small," Chopper exclaimed. "I can't get a sample from myself without risk of serious injury! And I can't look in the microscope properly!"

He sat down on Usopp's hand and started to cry.

"Hey, don't cry!" Usopp said soothingly, patting Chopper's tiny head with one finger. "We'll figure out a way to get you back to normal!"

"Really?" Chopper asked, sniffling.

"Yeah!" Luffy said loudly. Nami glared at him and he repeated it in a quieter voice. "We'll do it, Chopper, don't worry!"

Chopper smiled and nodded. "Okay!"

"Now, how do we go about doing it?" Robin asked thoughtfully.

The others were silent.

* * *

**So Chopper is about a centimeter tall, for anyone wondering.**


	3. Solution Discovered! To the Next Island!

"Wait," Chopper said suddenly. "I may have overreacted. If I turn big—" he changed into Heavy Point. "—This should be easier for getting a blood sample, at least."

"That was weird," Usopp muttered. "I _felt_ you getting heavier."

"Uh, Chopper?" Sanji said. "No offense, but it looks like you could barely lift the needle, much less draw your own blood."

Chopper paused. He then turned to Robin and said hopefully "Robin, can you help?"

"Certainly," Robin said, "but I've never drawn blood before."

"I can draw blood!" Luffy exclaimed.

The others stared at him. He grinned proudly.

"_You_ . . . can draw blood," Zoro said in a flat, disbelieving tone.

"Yeah, it's really easy!" Luffy told him. "I just need paper and a red marker!"

The others sighed.

"Luffy, that's _not_ what we're talking about," Nami said. "It's a different kind of 'draw'."

"Oh."

"Anyway, Robin," Chopper said, looking up at her, "we have some books in the storage room on medical procedures, and if we can find the smallest needle I have, we should be good to go."

"Very well," Robin agreed. "Long-Nose-_kun_, if I may?"

Usopp put his hand next to hers and let Chopper climb onto Robin's. She carried the tiny reindeer out of the kitchen, heading down to the storage room. After a moment the rest followed.

"Okay, there should be a book called Medical Procedures somewhere," Chopper said. Robin nodded and gently set him down on the desk, going to look through the piles of books and encyclopedia volumes.

"Let's see . . ." she murmured to herself as the others entered. "Medical Dictionary . . . Supernatural Beings (that looks interesting) . . . Mycolopedia . . . ah, here we are . . ."

She pulled out the thick book and placed it on the desk. "Give me a minute, Doctor-_san_," she said, flipping through to the index and then through the pages. After reading the page she had landed on, she turned to Chopper and asked him where the needles were. Chopper told her and she found the smallest one. She also found antibacterial wipes and carefully wiped her hands with one, as well as rubbing a small part of Chopper's arm with the corner.

"Do you need a local anesthetic?" Robin asked calmly, checking over the needle.

"No, I'll be fine," Chopper said bravely. Robin smiled, knelt next to him, and carefully took his left arm. With one finger she pressed gently on his arm, found a vein, and as carefully as possible, stuck the needle in no more than two millimeters. She drew back the top for less than a second and then slowly withdrew the needle. Chopper pressed on his arm to stop the bleeding and then instructed Robin on how to place the sample on the slide for examination.

* * *

After perhaps five or ten minutes of inspecting the sample, Robin described what she saw and made a detailed sketch of it. Per Chopper's instructions, she and the rest of the crew began flipping through the books, looking for images of what had appeared under the lens.

"Found something," Zoro said at last. The others abandoned their books and went over to him; he showed them the picture.

"That's it!" Chopper yelled. "Zoro, can you put the book on the desk with that page open?"

Zoro shrugged and did what he asked; Chopper climbed up onto the page and began reading. Robin stood over his shoulder—really, over all of him—and read as well.

"I got it!" Chopper exclaimed. "Wow, I think using this is illegal . . . I studied this with Doctorine a while ago."

"Are you saying something?" Nami asked.

Chopper sighed. "Never mind!" He shouted. "Anyway, for every agent there's a counteragent! I think I can find something—Robin, will you please pass me Mycolopedia?"

Robin passed him the book and flipped to the index for him. He skimmed the contents, muttered to himself "I still don't know why that's in here," and, finding what he was looking for, told Robin which page to turn to.

"This is it, then?" Usopp said, looking at the page.

"Yeah," Chopper said, speaking loudly to make his tiny voice heard. "This mushroom is called Sekitan." He pointed to the picture, which showed a mushroom with a large, flat cap and a thin stem; it was black as coal. "If we can find this mushroom and extract the necessary parts, I should be able to get back to normal!"

"Are you sure it won't send you into a coma?" Nami said, glancing at Zoro.

"What're you looking at me for?" He muttered.

"I'm sure," Chopper said. "According to this it's not very common, but hopefully we can find one."

"Well, we _are_ on the Grand Line," Sanji said. "I wouldn't be surprised if we found one on the next island we visit. Speaking of which, Nami-_swan_, how much farther do we have to go?"

"Tomorrow," Nami said. "We'll reach the next island by then."

"Are we gonna get Merry fixed there?" Luffy asked hopefully.

"If we can find a shipwright, yeah," Usopp said. "Chopper, we'll look for that mushroom on the next island!"

"Okay!" Chopper said happily.

* * *

**"Mycolopedia" is a portmanteau of the words "mycology" and "encyclopedia". In other words, it's a mushroom encyclopedia.**


	4. Land Ho! Explore the Jungle!

**OH LOOK AN UPDATE WHADDYA KNOW**

**I'm going on vacation on the 11th for a couple weeks, so no new material until then. I'll still be available to reply to reviews/PMs.**

* * *

It was late in the morning when they docked at the next island. Chopper had been satisfied with eating crumbs for meals and he had slept under a scrap of cloth on the table.

"I think it's uninhabited," Nami said as Zoro tossed the anchor down. "I don't see any signs of humans living here."

"Aw, that's too bad," Luffy said. "If there were people here they could've helped us look."

"Or they would have attacked," Robin added, coming up behind him.

"Attacked?" Usopp whimpered. "Then I'm really glad no one's here . . ."

Chopper, who was sitting on Usopp's shoulder, nodded fearfully.

The crew gathered on the beach to figure out the plan.

"Right, so here's what we need to do," Nami said. "First off, someone needs to stay and guard the gold and the ship."

"I'd stay, but . . ." Usopp glanced at Chopper. "You and me need to stick together, little buddy."

Chopper nodded.

"I'm not staying," Luffy said firmly. "I wanna go exploring."

"Yeah, yeah," Nami sighed. "How about . . . Robin, could you stay here until we come back for lunch, and then you switch with Sanji-_kun_?"

"That's fine with me," Robin said agreeably. "Cook-_san_?"

"Of course!" Sanji exclaimed. "Anything for Nami-_swan_!"

"Thank you, Sanji-_kun_." Nami looked around at the group. "Okay, guys, we'll come back here in a couple hours for lunch. We're at the southernmost point of the island, so just head south and follow the coast to get back to the ship. Now let's go!"

"Aye-aye, sir!" Sanji cried. He happily followed Nami into the thick forest that began a little ways away from the beach.

"Let's go!" Luffy exclaimed, pulling Usopp—and Chopper—along. "Adventure!"

"W-We're going too fast!" Chopper wailed, clinging to Usopp's shoulder. "I'm gonna fall off!"

"Luffy, slow down!" Usopp protested. "Chopper can't hold on if we go that fast!"

Luffy reluctantly slowed down. "Oh, okay," he said grudgingly.

Zoro went off in a different direction as Robin went back on the ship.

* * *

"So what does it look like again?" Luffy asked, crashing through the jungle aimlessly.

Usopp sighed, trying to keep up with him while making sure that Chopper was still on his shoulder. "Just let us know if you see a black mushroom."

"Oh, okay!"

"I still hate mushrooms, though," Usopp muttered to himself.

"Mushrooms can have a lot of medicinal properties," Chopper pointed out. "And . . . well, they can be poisonous too . . . but people are usually careful enough not to eat strange things . . ."

He fell silent. Usopp glanced at him out of the corner of his eye and muttered, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Chopper said, smiling. Then he looked around. "Where did Luffy get to?"

"Oh, for—" Usopp listened for crashing and followed the source to find Luffy.

* * *

"See anything, Sanji-_kun_?" Nami asked as the pair moved through the trees. He had followed her, much to her annoyance.

"I see something!" Sanji exclaimed.

"What?" Nami asked eagerly, turning to him.

He smiled and brought out a bouquet. "These beautiful flowers I picked for you! Of course they pale in comparison to your beauty, but—"

"Don't want them," she said, tossing the flowers to the ground. "We're looking for a _mushroom_."

"I-I know, my sweet, I just thought you would like them—"

"How about you find me some gold instead?"

"Of course, Nami-_swan_!"

* * *

"Where the hell _am_ I?" Zoro muttered, looking around at the treetops. "I thought I could find out by getting a high vantage point, but . . . dammit." He sighed and jumped down from his tree. "I still don't see any damn mushroom, anyway—GET OFF ME, YOU STUPID BIRD!"

* * *

Two hours passed and no one had found any sign of the mushroom. The groups began heading back to the ship.

"Okay, Luffy, you remember which way is south, right?" Usopp said.

"Hm . . ." Luffy peered up at the sun. "Um . . . well, the sun's right above us, so . . . I can't tell."

Usopp squinted upwards as well. "No, it's a little past noon, and the sun's slightly lower that direction, so . . ." he pointed. "This way."

"Wow, you're smart," Chopper said, speaking loudly so Luffy could hear. "You guys can tell direction by the sun?"

Luffy laughed. "Yeah! It sets in the east—I mean, west!"

"Oh, I never realized that!"

* * *

"Don't worry, Nami-_swan_," Sanji declared as he and Nami headed back. "I'll protect you!"

"Thank you, Sanji-_kun_," Nami said in a bored voice.

* * *

"South, south," Zoro muttered, looking around. "Which way is south?"

He looked at his feet.

"South, huh . . . ?"

* * *

As Sanji served up lunch, he looked around and said, "Where did that damn moss-head get to?"

"Oh, he's probably lost," Nami said unconcernedly. "He'll find the ship eventually."

Sanji sighed. "I guess I'll leave something out for him . . ."

"This is good!" Chopper exclaimed, nibbling on his crumbs.

Sanji looked at him curiously. Usopp repeated what Chopper had said.

Once everyone had finished, Sanji stayed behind on the ship while everyone else headed back out to comb the island once more. They agreed to meet back at the ship at sunset.

Luffy, Usopp, and their tiny doctor headed in a different direction than last time, while Nami and Robin went off to the right.

Robin glanced down at one point to see a deep hole in the ground. "That's impressive," she commented. "Whatever dug that hole must be very large. A full-grown man could fit in there."

Nami shuddered. "Let's get away from it, then. I don't want something creepy popping out."

"Very well, Navigator-_san_," Robin said with a shrug.


	5. Where's Chopper? Zoro's Discovery!

**Why do I post chapters so late? We may never know . . . no, wait, it's because I'm lazy. I guess we know now.**

**By the way, I went back and changed the name of the mushroom they're looking for. It'll be mentioned in this chapter, but feel free to go back to chapter three and check.**

* * *

Luffy cheerfully crashed through the forest, Usopp following as closely behind as he could.

"Luffy!" Usopp called. "We're looking for a _mushroom_, remember? If you just keep going like that you're going to miss it!"

Luffy stopped, turned around, and frowned. "Okay, but my way's better."

"You mean more fun," Usopp muttered, bending down to search the bushes. "Chopper, do you see anything?"

Silence. Usopp turned to the side and realized that Chopper was no longer on his shoulder.

"LUFFY! EMERGENCY!"

* * *

"I'm starting to think that the mushroom doesn't even _grow_ here," Nami muttered dejectedly as she and Robin searched the vegetation. The sun was still shining brightly overhead.

Robin shrugged. "We shouldn't lose heart just yet." She paused. "Of course, if there _isn't_ one on this island, who knows when we'll be able to find one?"

Nami sighed. "You're so pessimistic . . ."

Robin did not deny this.

* * *

"O-Okay . . ." Chopper said to the centipede, which had aggressively reared up. The tiny reindeer had been pushed off of Usopp's shoulder by a stray twig and was now slowly backing away. "I don't want any trouble, so—"

The centipede lunged. Chopper screamed and ran away.

After some time, Chopper dove off to the left into a tiny hole, quickly covering it with a leaf. He heard the centipede skitter over it.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Chopper turned and saw a family of mice. There was a litter of squirming babies and the mother lying on her side, allowing the babies to suckle. She lifted her head when she noticed Chopper and squeaked.

"I'm not a stag beetle!" Chopper snapped in response. "I'm a reindeer!"

The mouse squeaked again.

"Well, I'm usually not this small," Chopper admitted. "Are these your babies?"

_Squeak_

"They're beautiful! And already three days old?" he looked around. "Where's their dad?"

_Squeak squeak_

"Oh, no . . . I'm sorry. Can I help out?"

_Squeak_

"S-Sure, I can get you some food . . . wait here."

Chopper popped out of the hole, scanned the area for malignant insects, and made his way to a small group of tall grasses.

* * *

"Now where the hell is this?"

Zoro scratched his head and looked around. He was standing just outside of a bustling town. It was rather cloudy and he couldn't see the forest anywhere.

"Well, maybe the others are already in that town," he muttered. He sighed and went into the streets.

As he passed through the market, glancing around at the stalls, he suddenly stopped. For there, sitting right in front of him in a box, were several fresh charcoal-black mushrooms with flat caps and thin stems.

"Hey, mister!" Zoro said, getting the attention of the vendor. "What's the name of these things?"

The vendor glanced down. "Those are Sekitan," he said. "1,000 beris apiece."

"Sekitan, _that_ was the name," Zoro muttered. "Can't I have one for free?"

The vendor frowned and shook his head. "Sonny, I had these shipped in from the North Blue. 1,000 for one is a bargain already."

"Half a one, then," Zoro said impatiently.

The vendor adamantly refused all of Zoro's inexperienced pleas. Zoro threw one last dejected look at the mushrooms before heading off.

"If I had more money—no, if I had money, I could get one," he muttered. "How can I get some cash?"

"Ha! You thought you could beat me!? Pay up, wimp! No one can beat the magnificent Tonstein!"

Zoro glanced over curiously. He saw a muscle-bound man holding out a hand and grinning while a slightly weaker-looking man scowled heavily and handed him money.

"Hey," he said as the weaker-looking man walked away with his hands in his pockets. "What's going on here?"

The strong man grinned. "I, my boy, am the magnificent Tonstein! Here's how this works: We have an arm-wrestling contest, see? If I win, you pay me 10,000 beris! And if _you_ win, I pay _you_ 10,000 beris! Whaddya say? Wanna have a go?"

Zoro smirked. "You're on." He sat across from Tonstein and they locked hands.

"Now, I'm _not_ going to hold back," the self-proclaimed 'magnificent' man warned.

"Then neither will I," Zoro said.

The passerby on the street weren't quite sure what happened. All they knew was that Tonstein was suddenly on the ground, the table was broken, and Zoro was letting go of the man's hand.

"I lied," he said, holding out his hand for the money. "I held back a _little_."


	6. At the Ship! Good News and Bad News!

**Hey, everyone. Sorry for interrupting your inbox with this note and not a new chapter, but I'm afraid I have to tell you that this story will be on hiatus for a month or so. I need to get things together for this story, as well as focus on some other stories that I want to post soon. I'm sorry about this and I hope this story will be back soon.**

* * *

The sun was setting and everyone was heading back to the ship for reports. In the end everyone except for Zoro and Chopper were in the kitchen.

"Is that idiot _still_ lost?" Sanji demanded. "He never turned up for lunch."

"I'm sure he found something to eat, Sanji-_kun_," Nami said. "He's not _completely_ hopeless. Anyway, Robin and I didn't find anything. What about you three?"

Usopp looked up dejectedly. "Bad news," Usopp mumbled. "We, uh . . . there's only two of us."

"What?"

Usopp mumbled something.

"Long-nose-_kun_, we can't hear you," Robin said calmly.

"We lost Chopper!" Usopp cried.

. . .

"You WHAT!?" Nami screamed.

"I dunno what happened!" Usopp yelled. "One second he's on my shoulder and then I look over and he's gone!"

"Good _going_, Usopp," Sanji snapped. "You lost our most vulnerable crewmate in a goddamn forest."

Usopp put his head down. "I'm _sorry_!" he wailed.

"It's okay," Luffy said, patting him on the back. "Chopper can take care of himself, right? I bet we'll be able to find him tomorrow! He's probably trying to find the ship right now!"

Usopp looked up. "You think so?"

Luffy nodded, grinning. "Yeah! And even if he's not, he's probably just hiding somewhere for the night! We'll look for him tomorrow!"

Usopp sighed. "Okay . . . I just hope he's safe . . . uh, we didn't find a mushroom."

"Maybe there aren't any on this island after all," Nami said with a sigh. "If that's the case, we can search for one on the next island we reach, whenever that is."

Sanji served up dinner, setting aside a plate. "Well, dig in, everyone."

Just as they started eating, there was a knock on the open door and someone said, "So do I get some or what?"

The crew looked up to see Zoro standing in the doorway.

"Zoro!" Luffy exclaimed. "You're back!"

"Well, yeah," Zoro said, scratching his head. The others noticed that he was very dirty.

"Where the hell _were_ you?" Sanji snapped. "You missed lunch!"

Zoro scowled. "I bought lunch in town earlier."

"Town?" Usopp asked confusedly.

"Yeah," Zoro said without further explanation. He came to the table and sat down; Sanji set down his dinner in front of him, glaring.

"Oh yeah," Zoro said as he swallowed his first bite. "I found some."

He casually held up two Sekitans as he took another bite. Almost instantly he was greeted with shocked yells of mingled anger and happiness.

"What?" He said, startled.

"Where the _hell_ did you _get_ those!?" Nami yelled.

"We all looked over the _whole island_!" Usopp exclaimed.

Robin held out her hand and Zoro deposited the mushrooms into it. She held them up to her eyes and examined them.

"These stems . . . you didn't pull these out of the ground," she said. It wasn't a question. "Just where did you get these?"

Zoro shrugged. "There was an open market thing in town and some guy had a boxful so I bought a couple."

"How did you _afford_ that?" Sanji asked suspiciously.

Zoro explained about the arm-wrestling man he had met.

"Again—_town_?" Usopp asked. "There's no town on this island. It's all beach and forest."

Zoro raised an eyebrow. "This place must be bigger than you thought then. By the time I came up it was cloudy."

Nami narrowed her eyes. "No . . . Robin and I walked all the way around the island. It's not _that_ big, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky all day. It shouldn't have been cloudy _anywhere_ today on this island. And what do you mean 'came up'?"

"Well, you guys said that the ship was south, right?" Zoro said, scratching his head. "I figured that if I went down far enough I'd find it eventually. I didn't find it after a while so I started—"

"Went down?" Luffy repeated, tilting his head.

"Yeah," Zoro said, nonplussed. "And then I started coming back up, only I came up outside of a town. And it was cloudy," he repeated. "So I followed the path back here and I came up on the beach."

Robin closed her eyes for a moment. "There's a large hole in the sand outside," she informed the others. "Navigator-_san_, it's about the size of the one in the woods that you and I saw earlier."

Nami put her head in her hands. "Zoro," she said. "Are you telling us that you _dug_ to _another island entirely_?"

"It was another island?" Zoro asked in surprise. "That explains it, then. I guess so."

Nami, Sanji, and Usopp smacked Zoro over the head, yelling at him for being so stupid while Luffy simply laughed.

"Well, he got the mushrooms, so it's okay, right?" Luffy asked cheerfully.

Zoro rubbed his head and scowled at the three.

"Fine," Nami said, seething. "I'll let you off the hook this time."

"Speaking of the mushrooms, where's Chopper?" Zoro asked.

Usopp explained what had happened.

"You _lost_ him!?" Zoro yelled.

"_You_ lost _yourself_ onto another island!" Usopp yelled back.

Luffy laughed again. "Zoro, Chopper's fine! We'll look for him in the morning."

* * *

The sun was barely starting to set when Chopper returned to the mouse family, staggering under the weight of the grains in his arms. He had turned big in order to carry more.

"Here," he said to the mother, dropping the grains in front of her and returning to his usual form. "Is this good?"

The babies were sleeping. The mother lifted her head wearily and squeaked in delight.

"Okay," Chopper said. "Is it okay if I stay here? It's getting late and if I can't make it back to my friends before the sun sets, then I'm gonna be in trouble. I can't see well in the dark."

_Squeak squeak_

"Thank you," Chopper said happily.


	7. Plans Laid Out! Chopper's in Trouble!

**I AM SO SORRY. I've never taken that long a hiatus for a story that's supposed to update regularly and I feel terrible. A thousand apologies and may the gods strike me down should it ever happen again.**

* * *

The sun was barely peeking over the horizon when Sanji awoke in his hammock, the others still fast asleep and snoring around him.

"What a weird dream," he mumbled. "Me working together with moss-head . . . Robin-_chwan_ and Chopper were . . ."

He shook his head, the dream already fading from his mind, and hopped out of his hammock, heading to the kitchen to cook something up for breakfast.

When he'd finished, he set out the plates and yelled, "Breakfast!"

The others were in the kitchen within seconds of his call. Luffy immediately started shoveling in his food. Sanji kicked him in annoyance.

"We'll split up after breakfast," Nami said as Sanji poured her some orange juice and got Robin some coffee. "Hopefully Chopper isn't far."

"And we should really watch where we step," Robin added thoughtfully. "One wrong move and . . ."

"Don't say it!" Usopp cried.

"How're we gonna find him?" Zoro demanded. "He's so small now it'd be like finding a needle in a haystack."

"We'll just have to keep our ears open and our eyes to the ground," Sanji said with a shrug.

"Yeah, we'll do it," Luffy said cheerfully. "Sanji, more!"

"Yeah, yeah . . ."

* * *

Once everyone was done eating, they split up into teams. Zoro stayed on the ship to guard the treasure and in case Chopper came back. Usopp and Robin headed to the left side, Nami and Luffy headed to the right, and Sanji went straight into the jungle.

* * *

"CHOPPER! WHERE ARE YOU?"

Nami smacked Luffy's head. "Keep your voice down," she hissed. "If Chopper finds us, we have to keep quiet to even hear him talk! And don't walk so fast, you might hurt him!"

"You're so bossy," Luffy mumbled. But he slowed his pace a bit and scanned the ground.

* * *

"Ah! There—! No, it's just a bug . . ."

Usopp sighed as he followed Robin through the trees. "It's just like Zoro said . . . finding a needle in a haystack."

Robin looked up thoughtfully. "In order to find the needle, you can use a magnet."

"Yeah, but Chopper's not made of metal!"

Robin stopped, Usopp almost bumping into her. "If Doctor-_san_ needs to find his way back to the ship, he might not know how to get there. We can help him."

"How?"

Robin knelt, picked up a twig, and drew a small arrow in the dirt, pointing to the direction they'd come from. "We'll leave these markers along the way," she explained. "Hopefully he'll see them and know where to go."

Usopp nodded slowly, grinning. "You're so great!"

Robin quietly shook her head, unnoticed by Usopp, who had bent down to pick up a stick of his own. He drew several small arrows pointing to the general direction of the Going Merry. "We should let the others know about this later!"

"Right," Robin agreed, standing. "Come on, Long-nose-_kun_."

* * *

"Shitty rubber-man, shitty long-nose, stealing _my_ Nami-_swan_ and Robin-_chwan_," Sanji moaned to himself as he trekked through the jungle.

Suddenly he stopped. "I wonder . . . ?"

He knelt, grabbed a stick, and drew a small arrow in the ground, pointing to the ship.

"There," he said, satisfied.

* * *

Chopper awoke, still in the small den with the mother mouse and her babies. He blinked sleepily and yawned. The mouse lifted her head and squeaked.

"Yeah, I'm leaving," Chopper said, quietly getting up. "Thanks for letting me sleep here!"

_Squeak squeak_

"You too! Good luck!"

He crawled up and out back into the woods. He looked around and blinked.

"So . . . which way . . . is Merry?"

He frantically started looking around and sniffing for any clues. Suddenly in the distance he heard a yell of, "CHOPPER! WHERE ARE YOU?"

"Luffy!" he exclaimed. He started running towards the source of the voice. "Luffy?!"

As he ran, he was sadly not paying attention to what was in front of him, and the next thing he knew, he was falling down, down, down . . .


	8. Dark Tunnel! The Search Goes On!

"No luck?" Nami asked dejectedly.

The others shook their heads. They were back in the kitchen for an early lunch.

"We drew arrows in the dirt pointing to the ship, just in case," Usopp said. "Of course, it was all the great Captain Usopp-_sama_'s idea—!"

"Good idea, Robin," Zoro said approvingly.

Usopp hung his head. "Yeah, good job," he mumbled.

"Oh, I did the same," Sanji said. "Robin-_chwan_, we're thinking exactly alike! Could this be proof of . . . soul mates?!"

"No," Nami said. "Luffy, let's do the same after we eat."

Luffy nodded.

"I hope he's getting enough to eat," Sanji said as he served up lunch.

"There are a lot of plants in there, he's fine," Usopp said reassuringly.

* * *

Chopper screamed as he fell down the huge hole.

"What's a hole like this doing in a forest?!" he screamed. "What kind of monster made this?!"

He changed into his big form and frantically made breast-stroke motions in the air, trying to propel himself to the dirt wall. Finally he reached it, dug in with his hands and feet, and slowed himself gradually until he came to a total stop.

He caught his breath and looked up. The light of the forest above seemed very far away.

"I guess I gotta climb," he mumbled with tears in his eyes. Holding on tightly, he slowly scaled the dirt wall.

But soon, he found himself at the entrance of a cave.

"Huh?" he mumbled in surprise. "Well, I can rest here . . ."

He pulled himself up to the dirt bottom of the side hole and turned small again, flopping onto his back.

"I wish I was stronger," he mumbled.

He sat up, glanced behind him, and saw that the hole went much deeper—it seemed to be a long tunnel.

"Maybe it's an easier way out," he said hopefully. He stood, changed into Walking Point, and started trotting down.

The light faded as he walked and he eventually slowed down, relying on his nose to guide him. The tunnel was pungent with an unfamiliar smell.

He stumbled and fell, landing in some big, open area. He sniffed around and sensed movement—there were _things_ moving in these tunnels!

He screamed as something big ran up to him.

* * *

Luffy and Nami crouched and drew some arrows in the dirt.

"Luffy, those ones are backward," Nami scolded, smacking him.

Luffy rubbed his head.

* * *

Robin and Usopp passed by Zoro's huge hole. Usopp glanced at it nervously. "Is that—?"

"Swordsman-_san_ did that," Robin said.

Usopp gulped. "It's creepy."

"Indeed. Let's hope nothing makes it its home."

Usopp whimpered and hid behind Robin again.

* * *

Sanji drew a few arrows in the dirt before throwing down the stick and running for some lovely flowers he spotted.

"Oh, Nami-_swan_ and Robin-_chwan_ will love these," he sighed.

"Don't waste time!" he heard Nami yell. He looked around, but she was nowhere to be seen. He scratched his head and decided to leave the flowers behind.

* * *

Luffy glanced at Nami confusedly. "Why'd you yell that?"

"I sensed procrastination," she muttered.

* * *

Zoro took a nap against the railing.


	9. Paralyzed! Sanji's Idea!

Chopper shrieked as the thing rushed towards him. It grabbed him in calloused, sharp-clawed paws. He sniffed the air and suddenly recognized the scent.

"A mole," he exclaimed. "Hey, I'm not a worm! Let me go!"

The mole ignored him and bit sharply into Chopper's shoulder. Chopper cried out in pain and squirmed.

"I'm not food!" he cried. He struggled to get out of the mole's grasp but found himself growing weaker by the second.

"What . . . ?" He mumbled, keeping up his valiant struggle. But then his struggles ceased and he went limp.

The mole scuttled back down the tunnel in total darkness with the limp Chopper in its mouth.

* * *

"I'm hungry," Luffy whined. "Nami, let's go back and eat . . ."

"Is your stomach more important than poor Chopper?!" she yelled.

"If my stomach's full, maybe we could find Chopper easier," Luffy pointed out.

Nami groaned. "You do realize we had lunch not an hour ago."

"So?"

* * *

"If only we had someone on our crew who could track scents," Usopp sighed as he and Robin walked past a molehill.

"You mean like Doctor-_san_?" Robin asked, slightly amused.

". . . Oh, right."

* * *

Sanji glanced down as he passed a molehill and stopped. He bent to examine it and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"Maybe . . ." he murmured.

He kicked away the dirt, revealing a small tunnel beneath the surface. The resident mole scuttled away as the light shone through.

"Chopper?" Sanji called softly. "You there?"

No response.

"Damn," Sanji muttered, standing. "Worth a shot, I guess."

He strode away, scratching his head.

* * *

The mole carried Chopper down the tunnel to a small dip in the side of a rounder, cave-like area. He was placed among worms, but this did not make him shudder, for he was paralyzed by the mole's saliva. He could only take shallow breaths and was unable to move or speak.

Just then vibrations sounded from above. The dirt fell away and the light of the forest above shone through. The mole scuttled away as a familiar scent reached Chopper's nose.

"Chopper? You there?"

_Sanji!_ Chopper wanted to cry out. He struggled to move his mouth. _I'm here! Help!_

But he could not make a sound.

"Damn," Sanji muttered as Chopper heard him stand. "Worth a shot, I guess."

Chopper struggled to move again, but was stuck on the pile of earthworms. Tears fell down his face.

* * *

"Nami-_swan_!" Sanji cried as he bumped into Nami and Luffy. "Any luck, my dear?"

"We haven't found anything," Luffy muttered, kicking the dirt, and then glancing down in alarm to check for Chopper.

"What about you?" Nami sighed.

Sanji explained about the molehill.

"That actually sounds like a good plan," she mused. "Let the others know. Luffy, we'll check any molehills we see, okay?"

Luffy nodded in apparent understanding. Then he frowned, grinned, and clapped his hands.

"I got it!" he exclaimed. "Maybe . . . we're making too big a deal out of this!"

"Excuse me?" Sanji snapped. "We need our doctor back to normal, what if one of us gets sick—?"

"We're not making _enough_ of a big deal, if you ask me," Nami said.

"No, no," Luffy insisted. "We're definitely making a _big problem _out of a _small situation_ . . ."

He grinned expectantly.

"What?" Sanji said, confused and annoyed.

"Come on, you guys are smart, I thought you'd get it," Luffy said with a little pout.

Nami's eye twitched. "Explain."

Luffy grinned in delight. "We're making a mountain out of a _molehill_!"

He pointed to a molehill about ten feet away.

Nami and Sanji hit him.

* * *

**Recent Google searches:**

**"what the fuck are moles"  
"what the fuck do moles DO"  
"what the fuck do moles eat"  
"what the fuck even is a mole"  
"when the fuck do moles sleep"  
****"how the fuck do moles catch bugs"**


	10. Mobile Again! Back Home for Chopper!

_One hour later_

At some point or another, the ones searching in the forest had met up with one of the other groups and passed along the molehill suggestion. Now in addition to scanning the ground, they kicked away dirt whenever they saw the telltale piles and called softly into the hole.

"What even made Sanji think of this?" Usopp grumbled after he and Robin checked their third molehill.

"It's not so farfetched," Robin said. "Doctor-_san_ may have fallen underground in another tunnel."

Usopp sighed. "I hope he's okay . . ."

"Moles mainly eat worms," Robin said as they went on their way. "If he did end up underground, I'm sure he could find a way out." She looked up in thought. "Unless a mole mistook him for a worm, and . . ."

Usopp shrieked.

* * *

Chopper's arm twitched and he blinked in surprise.

He slowly tried moving his arm with a little response. He would have smiled if he could.

Slowly feeling began returning to his body. When he was finally able to move, the first thing he did was shudder upon feeling the worms beneath him.

He slowly sat up, wincing, and smiled. After stretching out his limbs, he leapt off of the worm pile and ran around in circles for a minute.

He stopped and looked up at the light above.

"So how do I get out . . . ?"

The hole was shallow, and if only Chopper had a shrunken Rumble Ball, he could have leapt out easily. But for now . . .

He ran to the sloped wall, turned big, dug his hands in, and started to climb.

It took him a while, but he finally made it to the top and fell to the ground outside, breathing heavily.

"I did it," he said to himself happily. He stood and turned back to his regular form. "Now to find the others . . ."

"Luffy, what makes you think he's in a tree?"

Chopper's ears perked up and he turned to see Nami and Luffy not too far off. Luffy was checking some knots in a tree as Nami scolded him.

"I mean, really, how would he even get there?" Nami continued exasperatedly.

Luffy shrugged as Chopper started running towards them. "Maybe an owl carried him off. Or a squirrel. I dunno, it was just an idea."

Nami sighed. "Seems like Sanji-_kun_'s molehill idea isn't doing much, so I guess that's worth a shot."

Luffy grinned. Chopper climbed onto his foot and started shimmying up his leg to get his attention.

"See, I can be smart," he said proudly. He frowned, glanced at his leg, and flicked it, sending Chopper flying past Nami's face.

"There was a bug," he said in response to her look.

"That was _Chopper_, you idiot!" she yelled.

"What?! Really?!" Luffy yelled in shock.

Nami smacked him and pointed. "He flew that way! Go find him!"

Luffy hurried off in the direction she'd pointed, keeping an eye out for their tiny doctor.

Chopper had hit a tree and slid to the ground through a bush, dazed. He shook his head, got up, and looked around. He spotted several arrows on the ground and followed them curiously.

"Luffy?" he yelled as he walked. "Nami?"

No response.

Chopper made it out of the bush, but they were nowhere to be seen.

"Maybe I should keep following the arrows," he mumbled to himself.

* * *

Luffy and Nami had gone too far in their search for Chopper and ended up looking everywhere _but_ where the reindeer had landed.

"Well, I dunno where he is," Luffy mumbled after a few minutes.

Nami hit him. "Pay attention next time!"

"Sorry," Luffy mumbled, drawing circles in the dirt.

* * *

Chopper made it out of the forest and blinked in the sudden brightness of sun on sand.

"Merry!" he cried, spotting the ship. "I'm back! Yes! I did it!"

He ran to the ship with all his might and collapsed in front of it. After regaining his breath, he straightened up and stared up at the ship. Spotting the anchor resting on the sand, he jumped onto it, ran up the rope, and hopped onto the deck, where Zoro was sleeping against the railing.

"Zoro!" he exclaimed happily. He ran up to the sleeping swordsman, climbed up his shirt, reached his face, and grabbed onto his nose.

"Zoro!" he yelled.

Zoro awoke with a start and went cross-eyed when he spotted Chopper on his nose.

"Oh, Chopper," he said, yawning. He held out his hand and Chopper fell into it. "You're okay?"

Chopper nodded and yawned hugely. "Kinda tired . . ."

"I'll make you a bed or something," Zoro said, standing and heading into the kitchen.


	11. To Dinner! Arguments and Apologies!

"No luck?" Luffy said sadly.

As the sun set, the five searching the forest met up on the beach.

"I'm afraid not," Robin said.

Nami glared at Luffy. "_We_ found him, but _someone_ kicked him away to who-knows-where!"

"What?" Usopp exclaimed.

Luffy hung his head. "I said I was sorry," he mumbled.

"Sorry doesn't bring our doctor back!" Sanji yelled, aiming a kick at Luffy's head. The rubber man's head flew to the side and snapped back in place.

"Well, we can't do anything about it now!" he exclaimed. "And I didn't mean to!"

"Luffy, you gotta watch what you're doing!" Usopp groaned.

"Oh, you're one to talk!" Nami exclaimed. "Which one of us didn't keep an eye on Chopper in the first place?!"

"I said sorry!" Usopp protested. "Besides, it isn't like anyone else has found him either!"

"What, are you blaming _us_ now?" Sanji snapped.

"No, no, I just—!"

"Should we keep searching after dinner?" Robin asked. "Or should we wait until morning?"

"Morning," Nami sighed, rubbing her temples. "Like we'd find _anything_ in the dark!"

"Is he gonna be okay, though?" Usopp demanded.

"He was fine the night before," Luffy pointed out. "I bet he'll be fine tonight, too!"

"Hey."

Everyone looked to the ship to see Zoro leaning on the railing, watching them.

"What're you guys yelling about?" he said, yawning. "Woke me up . . ."

Everyone started yelling at once. Zoro shut his eyes and held up his hand until they quieted down.

"You shouldn't be taking a nap in the first place!" Nami hissed. "What if Chopper came back?!"

Zoro opened his mouth.

"He might have needed help getting up to the ship!" Sanji exclaimed. "Brain-dead moss-head, be more careful!"

Zoro scowled heavily. "He came up the anchor rope and woke me up. Everything's fine. Calm down, for the love of—"

"He _could_ do that, but you should still keep an eye open for—" Nami froze. "Wait, what?"

Zoro blinked sleepily. "Chopper came back a while ago. He was taking a nap in the kitchen last I saw him."

Everyone started yelling at him again. Zoro ignored them, dropped down the rope ladder, and went to the kitchen.

Finally, the crew gathered in the kitchen around the table, where Chopper was awake and stretching.

"Chopper!" Usopp cried, kneeling down to speak to him. "I'm so sorry! Are you okay?!"

"I'm fine!" Chopper exclaimed, running forward. "But . . . Luffy?"

Luffy knelt. "Chopper?"

Chopper smacked Luffy's nose. "Don't kick me!"

"I'm sorry!"

"What happened?" Nami asked, kneeling down. "After Usopp lost track of you . . ." She shot another glare the sniper's way and he held up his hands nervously.

Sanji stood to start on dinner as Chopper explained what had happened in the forest.

"Paralysis?" Usopp exclaimed. "Moles can _do_ that?! They're more terrifying than I thought!"

"Moles eat worms," Robin reminded him. "The paralyzing agent probably only affected Doctor-_san_ because he's so small right now."

"Oh, okay," Usopp said in relief.

"In fact, we should be glad it wore off at all," Robin remarked. "If it hadn't, and the mole had come back . . ."

Chopper screamed.

"Don't scare us!" Usopp cried.

"I don't ever wanna go near a mole again," Chopper whispered.

"Would it cheer you up if we told you we have the mushroom?" Nami asked, smiling.

Chopper looked up, his eyes lighting up. "Really?"

Zoro explained what had happened.

"Wait . . ." Chopper said slowly. "Zoro . . . you dug a huge hole in the forest?"

"Yeah."

"That must have been the one I fell into!"

There was a moment of silence.

"You stupid moss-head!"

"If you hadn't done that, Chopper wouldn't have had to go through that!"

"Zoro, why?!"

"If I hadn't done that, we wouldn't have the mushroom!" Zoro snapped.

"Good point," Usopp said. "But . . . still!"

"Back to the matter at hand," Robin said, "Doctor-_san_, when should we start making the solution?"

"Tomorrow morning," Chopper said. "I'm still really tired from today . . . I can go another night like this."

Robin smiled. "Then that's that."

"Sanji, I'm hungry," Luffy called.

"It's almost ready, just hold your horses," Sanji muttered.


	12. The Making of the Cure! It Begins!

Chopper awoke the next morning on the table. He wriggled out from under the folds of a napkin.

"Hey."

He shrieked and whipped around. Sanji's chin was resting on the table, staring at him.

"Morning," he said, smiling. "You slept okay?"

"Mm-hm," Chopper said, yawning. "Breakfast?"

"It's ready."

Chopper smiled.

* * *

"So are we gonna do it?" Luffy asked. His words were barely distinguishable through the food in his mouth. Sanji kicked him for his poor manners and he almost choked.

"Yeah," Chopper said, nibbling on some crumbs. Luffy frowned and Chopper repeated himself in a yell.

"What do we need?" Usopp asked.

Chopper frowned. "I'll have to do some research. It'll be difficult, but . . . Robin, can you help?"

"Certainly," Robin agreed.

Chopper grinned.

* * *

After breakfast, Robin carried Chopper to the storage room, where she began looking through books at his behest. The rest of the crew lounged around the ship.

"Hm . . ."

Chopper scratched his head. "Boiling . . . I bet Sanji can do this!"

"I'll ask," Robin said. She went outside and called, "Cook-_san_?"

"Robin-_chwan_, how may I be of assistance, my love?" Sanji cried, running to her almost immediately.

She blinked. "Doctor-_san_ wants you to boil that mushroom in some water for about thirty minutes."

"Of course!" Sanji exclaimed. He hurried off to the kitchen after yelling at Zoro to get that damn mushroom. Robin returned to her task with Chopper.

* * *

"Here you are, Robin-_chwan_, Chopper," Sanji said, bringing down the heated pot.

"Thanks!" Chopper yelled.

Sanji nodded and looked at Robin hopefully.

"Thank you, Cook-_san_."

Sanji spun in a circle and left the room.

Robin examined the mushroom broth and sniffed. "Goodness, that's foul."

Chopper covered his nose. "Yeah. Anyway, go ahead and take the mushroom out . . ."

Robin snapped on a pair of gloves and drew out the soggy fungus, setting it on the table away from the pot.

"And . . . let's see . . ." Chopper examined the rows of bottles. "We'll need some of this, and some of this, and . . ."

* * *

"It's finished!"

The solution sat in the pot, murky and slightly see-through.

"Cook-_san_ will have to wash this pot well once we're done," Robin murmured to herself.

"What?"

"Nothing. How is this taken?"

"Intravenously," Chopper said. "So . . . we'll need a needle again."

Robin brought out a clean syringe and drew out a full barrel of the solution. Chopper nervously turned big and held out his arm, which Robin carefully injected. Chopper winced and shook his arm when the needle was withdrawn.

"Are you hurt?" Robin asked, setting the syringe aside.

"I'm okay," Chopper said.

"How long does it take to start working?"

"I think I'll be back to normal by tomorrow morning," Chopper said. "In the meantime . . . I'll have to wait."

Robin smiled. "I'm sure you can find something to occupy your time."

* * *

**I want to make this story 14 chapters, so next chapter's gonna be filler on Chopper's last day of being tiny. If you have anything you want baby Chopper to do while he's still tiny, feel free to request in a PM or review.**


	13. Dust Bunnies and a Toothbrush Bath!

**Thanks! Requests in order from Son of Whitebeard, Zantetsuken Reverse, and Lew-_chan_!**

* * *

"Not again," Usopp muttered, looking around. Raising his voice, he called, "Guys, watch your step! I can't find Chopper!"

The others began to help him look. After a while Robin called them to the men's quarters—she'd found Chopper under the dresser using her power.

Everyone crowded around the dresser and peered underneath it. They could just make out their tiny doctor in the shadows.

"You okay?" Luffy whispered. "Chopper?"

Chopper crawled towards them. As it turned out, he was tangled up in dust bunnies and cobwebs.

"Help," he said, coughing.

Nami untangled him and scowled at the male crewmembers. "You guys need to clean in here more often."

Luffy and Usopp ran away at the mere mention of a chore.

* * *

Nami brought Chopper to the kitchen, set him on the counter, told him to wait, and left. She returned soon with an old toothbrush.

"I don't need my teeth brushed," Chopper protested.

"This is for your bath," Nami said. "You're all dirty after that dust."

She rinsed the toothbrush, put a dab of soap on it, and started running it over the tiny doctor gently. He twisted his body around.

"It tickles," he said, giggling.

"Hold still," Nami muttered.

* * *

"Not again!"

Zoro glanced up from his workout as Usopp wandered by, muttering to himself. "Did you lose Chopper _again_?"

"No . . . okay, yes."

"Where'd you last see him?"

"He was in my pocket. Guess he fell out," Usopp mumbled.

Zoro sighed. "It's this kind of stuff that caused that huge mess in the forest, y'know."

"You didn't help by digging that huge hole!" Usopp yelled.

"Whatever. Where did you lose him?"

"The kitchen, but I couldn't find him, so I thought he might've gone out here."

Zoro and Usopp went back to the kitchen on Zoro's suggestion and started looking all around small nooks and crannies where Chopper might be.

"HELP!"

They looked around at the tiny shout. Zoro spotted something and went over to the stove, Usopp close behind.

It turned out that Chopper was stuck between the stove-oven appliance and the wall.

"Help," he whimpered. "I'm stuck."

"Okay, try to pull out," Zoro said. He gently took Chopper between his fingers. "Usopp, pull out the stove."

Usopp got a grip on the appliance and yanked. Stumbling backwards, he managed to pull it out about an inch, freeing Chopper.

"How did you not see him before?" Zoro demanded, holding Chopper gently in his hands.

"Good question," Usopp mumbled. "I'm sorry, Chopper."

Chopper sighed. "I can't wait 'til tomorrow . . ."


	14. Waking up Normal! It's over at Last!

**Rocks in different languages**

* * *

As Chopper opened his eyes, he realized something seemed different. The ceiling seemed closer, the floor didn't look so far away, and the kitchen table was awfully uncomfortable.

Looking himself over, he grinned and sat up.

"I'm back to normal," he whispered. Raising his voice, he yelled happily, "I'm back to normal!"

The reindeer jumped off of the table and ran outside, barrelling into Sanji, who was heading to the kitchen to start on breakfast.

"The hell—? Chopper!" Sanji exclaimed.

Laughing, Chopper cried, "Sanji! I'm back to normal!"

Eliciting a smile from the cook, Sanji grinned and patted his head. "I see that. Good to have you back."

Proudly, Chopper gave him a grin back and followed him back into the kitchen.

Roasting some onions to get a start on breakfast, Sanji asked curiously, "Did you feel anything when you were sleeping?"

"Oh, I don't think so," Chopper said, sitting at the table and yawning. "I just woke up like this. Being big feels almost weird now!"

"But now you don't have to sleep on the table anymore," Sanji said, cracking some eggs into a pan.

Lounging into the chair, Chopper grinned. "I get a hammock again!"

Eventually, the others came in as Sanji finished the food. Naturally, they were pleased to see Chopper back and hugged him, or patted his head, or just smiled at him.

"'M big again, now I can do things on my own!" Chopper said happily. "I can read, and experiment, and walk around without getting stuck or lost . . ."

"And now Usopp won't lose you anymore," Luffy said cheerfully.

"Yeah, now I won't—Luffy!" Usopp said indignantly. "That was one time!"

"Two times," Nami said.

"Three," Zoro corrected.

Usopp hung his head. Chopper patted him on the back. "It's okay . . ."

"It's a good thing no one was severely injured while you were that size, Doctor-san," Robin remarked.

Nami shivered. "Robin . . . why . . . ?"

"But now I'm big again, so it's not a problem," Chopper said.

Everyone looked at him.

". . . You're still pretty short compared to the rest of us," Usopp said quietly.

Chopper put his head down.

* * *

~Fin~

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**Secret message ftw**

**Story's done! Thanks for all your support, everyone!**


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